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Everything’s bigger in the state of Texas. That almost certainly includes piles and piles of cash for sports.

USA Today has released their latest deep dive into the finances of schools across the country and not surprisingly, Texas and Texas A&M are once again 1-2 in the paper’s annual ranking of richest athletic departments in the NCAA. The Longhorns narrowly edged their in-state rivals for the crown this year, bringing in $214.8 million in revenue to the Aggie’s $212 million.

To put that into some context, each school alone earns, per USA Today, nearly nearly as much as the entire set of 12 public schools in the Big Sky conference did in the same year ($233.8 million). Add the two up together and UT and A&M bring in more money than all the public schools combined in all of Conference USA. The same is true when being compared to the MAC as well — not quite the kind of #MACtion you’ll hear administrators bring up.

Maybe more interesting is the gap between the two programs in Texas and the powerhouse names behind them. No. 3 Ohio State checks in at $185.4, some $27 million behind No. 2 A&M. The Aggies are also way out in front of the SEC’s next biggest in Alabama (a $38 million gap) and Georgia ($54 million).

Both Lone Star State schools also spent quite a bit of that intake despite finishing in the black for 2017. Texas set a new record with operating expenses of $207 million for the fiscal year, which is the first time ever a school has crossed the $200 million rubicon in terms of spending and a whopping $32 million more than runner-up Michigan spent in the same time frame.

There was a common theme if you dig into the numbers as six of the top 10 schools in terms of revenue were from the SEC, while eight of the top 25 came from the Big Ten. The Pac-12’s richest program was Oregon at $145 million but USC, as a private school, did not report figures. The ACC seemed to lag behind their Power Five peers on the list, with Florida State the highest-ranked school at No. 13 ($144 million) and eventual national champion Clemson checking in at No. 26 with just $112 million in total revenues.

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Florida Atlantic will go through spring practice without their starting quarterback this year.

Head coach Lane Kiffin told reporters after practice on Wednesday that former Oklahoma transfer Chris Robison was suspended all of spring for an “internal matter” and would not be with the team as a result.

“We don’t really discuss details on them, but it is what it is,” Kiffin said, according to the Palm Beach Post. “We’re always trying to help kids grow and mature and hold kids to a high standard.”

The loss of the team’s starting quarterback is quite notable given that Robison threw for 2,540 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2018 on his way to being named co-CUSA freshman of the year. His absence leaves FAU with just one scholarship quarterback available this spring as Indiana transfer Nick Tronti and redshirt freshman Cordel Littlejohn battle for reps.

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Sorting out the depth chart for spring football is suddenly on the back-burner in Berkeley this month.

On Wednesday, a former sports medicine intern at California published a Facebook post that detailed several allegations of sexual harassment against the football program, including current and former players and coaches.

“We are aware of the very disturbing public allegations made on social media,” a statement from the school to ESPN read. “Allegations of sexual violence and sexual harassment by campus employees are confidential unless officials determine policy is violated, and disciplinary action has been decided.”

The woman, Paige Cornelius, said that she had withdrawn from Cal in order to seek counseling therapy as a result of the alleged incidents. One such allegation leveled against the program was against a coach she said is still employed by the university, saying he invited her to a nearby pool and commenting on how she would look in a bikini. Another involved an unsolicited kiss from another staffer and comments from football players as well.

Speaking to ESPN, Cornelius said that she had tried to detail her allegations with athletic director Jim Knowlton and football coach Justin Wilcox but “didn’t receive a response,” prompting her to go public on social media and to other outlets.

Needless to say this isn’t the kind of headline that you want to have during a fairly big offseason for the program as the #MeToo movement hits the Pac-12 program.

In a spring letter to supporters this week, Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier confirmed a little bit of news that the program had extended their apparel deal with the German sportswear company for seven more years.

“Speaking of gear, I am excited to announce that we have extended our existing relationship with adidas for the next seven years,” Frazier wrote. “Look for more details on this soon!”

It’s a busy spring for the Huskies, who are coming off a MAC title in 2018 but will be seeing plenty of changes outside of their apparel deals with a new head coach in alum Thomas Hammock.

While the school re-upping with the three stripes is unlikely to be the sort of lucrative deal worth nine figures that some of their Power Five brethren have gotten, every little bit of extra money at a program like NIU counts and they will likely be able to plow that right back into the football program among other things.

We’ll have to see just how lucrative the deal is in the end but more money and more stability is a nice bit of business to take care of as spring football winds down in DeKalb.

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They say it just means more in the SEC and most can agree that it is certainly the case in Louisiana, where LSU football is a way of life for many in the state. It’s also a place where politics and sports find themselves in the same story more often than you would think.

“It’s the way things are… and quite frankly, there are other schools, in the Southeastern Conference especially, that pay more,” Edwards said, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. “His enthusiasm for all things LSU is apparent and it’s also contagious.”

The governor, who is up for reelection in the state this year, also stuck to sports just a bit longer. The Tigers athletic department may have things going in the right direction on the football field but athletic director Joe Alleva is no fan favorite for the way he ousted Les Miles a few years ago to hire Orgeron and has seen his basketball coach caught up in the FBI wiretap scandal that has swept up college basketball.